Why I Want a Wife Feminist, Judy Brady explains in her speech, Why I Want a Wife (1972),why she would like to have a wife. She supports her claim by first stating what she wants in a wife, then what that wife would do for her, finally she tells of how the wife would take on these tasks. Brady's purpose is to get the point across that she wants a wife to do the things that wives do and that she is a woman who knows what she wants. She is a very informed woman and knows how she wants a wife to act. She establishes a very demanding sounding tone for the readers of this article.
Brady uses a lot of ethos in this article. She, as an ex-housewife, knows what wives do for their husbands, and how they treat them. With Brady’s past of being a housewife, she has gained all the knowledge that she needs to know what she wants in a wife. One may think that her statement “ I want a wife” means that she literally wants a woman to marry, but it just means that she wants someone to do all the things for her that a wife does. She wants someone to do all kinds of things for her, she wants a wife who will clean all her cloths, make her dinner, basically be her slave. In her mind, she can’t see why she should not be allowed one, as feminist she believes that all women need the same opportunities a man has.
…show more content…
She wants a person to do all the things for her that she has done as a wife, she wants to get what she gave to her husband. Brady once was the wife that she is writing about wanting to have. She once attended to every need of her husband and fulfilled every single one of his wishes and commands. From the way that this article was written one could infer that she was tired of doing these thing and needed/wanted these things done for her. She is tired of doing all of this for another person and not getting anything in return. She is in all meanings of the word, a
In the short story ?Why I want a wife? by Judy Brady, she goes into detail what being a wife is like. The tedious details of day to day activities, the strain and hard work of being a ?good wife?, and the unappreciated service a wife must perform to be accepted by her husband. This story made me feel like, the author
In agreement with the feminist movement, she claims that the marriage our grandparents shared, has no room in the lives of a modern woman. She refers several times to the negative ideas of marriage being a prison and woman having to give up their dreams for a family life. "Feminism has not failed me. It has presented me with compromises and disappointments and I have made some choices that I regret" (Reimer). The contrast between love and independence is overpowering, which she handles with a wide range of emotion. Crittenden acknowledges the advantages and dis advantages of both remaining independent and getting married. Crittenden acknowledges the advantages and disadvantages of both remaining independent and getting married, on an emotional
In Judy Brady’s, “I Want A Wife” (1971) sarcasm or a humorous tone is expressed on the topic of what makes a wife. Brady repetitively states, “I want a wife” and begins to list what makes “a wife.” Brady defines a wife as someone who takes care of the children, cleans and cooks, gives up her ti...
Many sexist ideas have long been accepted and have become the societal norm. In “I Want a Wife” by Judy Brady the author talks about how she wants a wife to do the typically expected things of a wife for her. Brady simply lists all the things a wife in today’s age is expected to do such as “pick up after the children, and a wife who will pick up after me” (504). It is the wife duty to give herself to her kids and husband regardless of how she is ever feeling. Throughout the literary piece the author shows how the needs of the wife are no longer considered when she becomes a wife. The entire essay is stated so matter-of-factly that it really shows how accepted these absurd ideologies really
It is safe to say that the box next to the “boring, monotone, never-ending lecture” has been checked off more than once. Without the use of rhetorical strategies, the world would be left with nothing but boring, uniform literature. This would leave readers feeling the same way one does after a bad lecture. Rhetorical devices not only open one’s imagination but also allows a reader to dig deep into a piece and come out with a better understanding of the author’s intentions. Ursula K. Le Guin’s “The Wife’s Story” is about a family that is going through a tough spot. However, though diction, imagery, pathos, and foreshadowing Guin reveals a deep truth about this family that the reader does not see coming.
... to the domesticated woman urging her to care for her family providing food for the body but to also care for herself in providing food for her mind: A house is no home unless it contain food and fire for the mind as well as for the body” (602). Murray, also makes suggestion for reform, encouraging women not to abandon their familial roles, but, rather tend to their family’s domestic needs dynamically saying “while we are pursuing the needle, or the superintendency of the family, I repeat, that our minds are at full liberty for reflection; that imagination may exert itself in full vigor” (405). In saying this she encourages women not to be passive but to be active and dynamic in their supposed roles as women, to defy the notion of the archetypal woman who tends to her family and has nothing that pertains to her solely and enrich the mind and subsequently herself.
... men. If women are unhappy in a marriage they should move on toward what pleases them. She also points out that women in the twentieth century hold their life in their hands and that there is not a single person out there that has full control of it. They should peruse to become equals of men because they are not the imprudent weaklings that should be obligated to fulfill a roll of subservience to men.
...ng it is not something she wants to be. This stereotypic role will probably continue to occur unless the stereotype of what a wife should be takes on yet another change. Hopefully one day an educated, vivacious, well-spoken, working, woman will become the tradition of what a wife epitomizes.
The repetition of the phrase “I want a wife” in the essay reveals the desire of a man to have a wife because of the duties that they fulfill. This phrase highlights the importance of the duties such as cooking, having children, cleaning, and other domestic work and how a wife must complete all of them. The repetition of the word “I” is describing men as egocentric in which they are worried about themselves rather than their wife. The author sets a sarcastic tone in which she demands to have a wife, where in reality she is tired of being a wife herself. The incorporation of rhetorical questions such as, “Why do I want a wife?” (Brady) stated at the end of the first paragraph and “My God, who wouldn’t want a wife?” (Brady) helps create a sense of humor after describing and listing all the duties that women have to fulfill. The title “I Want a Wife” is an irony itself because it makes the reader feel that the author is a male since he is looking for a wife where in reality it is a wife whom is releasing her experience as a woman. Judy’s use of hyperbole makes it clear of unfairness that women continue to face. As Brady states, “I want a wife who will have the house clean, will prepare a special meal, serve it to me and my friends, and not interrupt…” (Brady) establishes how a wife is responsible for all the events that occur in a man’s life such as friends coming home, but is not
Jochild, Maggie. Feminism Unadulterated: Why I Want Wife. 5 April 2008. 27 February 2014. .
She is stating that she knows she is far from perfect, but she wants to be remembered for her accomplishments and good. She wants her husband to move on. but to keep her children happy and taken care of, if a tragedy is to come because of one of her
Freelance writer, Judy Brady, in her narrative essay, “Why I Want A Wife,” was published in Ms. Magazine in 1972 recounts a male friendーrecently divorced from the mother of his sonーseeking a new wife. Brady’s purpose is to demonstrate the idea that people who classify under this title have difficult expectations required of them. She adopts a sarcastic, yet humorous, tone in order to appeal to similar feelings and experiences in her adult female readers. Brady emphasizes her purpose by using the rhetorical device of anaphora, repeating the phrase “I want a wife,” followed by strenuous tasks expected of her husband and child.
In the reading’s of “Why I Want a Wife” by Judy Brady, (Essay #6) the author gives details on the reasons she would love to have a wife by her side. She gives explicit encounters on the labor detail job of a woman, from cooking, to cleaning, to ironing, to sexual interactions. Now, I do believe that as a wife, there are specifics that are wanted in a marriage, but nothing stated as a demand.
Within these marriages, readers get a sense of how education plays an important role in a successful marriage, as this fulfills both of their dreams of personal identity. Although women in the nineteenth century were viewed to be superior wives and mothers, manage the household, and perform domestic tasks, it was important for women to become educated as “an education was supposed to enable these girls to become successful women in society” (Leigh 117). Women were not meant to be “trained” in some way to become good wives, but needed to be formally educated in order to be a successful wife and